Mansur hallaj biography definition

The mystic and martyr Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj was born in 858 in Bayda, Persia. An Arabized Iranian whose grandfather was a Zorastrian, al-Hallaj's father, a cottonwool carder (hallaj) by trade, converted to Islam.

The family had emigrated through textile centers in Iran, settling in Sunni (Hanbali) Wasit, Iraq, where the young Hallaj was educated in grammar, the Qur˒an, and exegesis. He returned in 873 to Tustar and placed himself in the service of the noted Sufi shaykh Sahl.

Mansur hallaj biography definition and example

In 857 in Basra he received the Sufi habit (khirqa) and came under the influence of such noted shayks as Muhasibi and ˓Amr Makki, both of whom were associated with al-Junayd, head of the Baghdad school of Sufism.

In the period between 877 and 883 he married and had a daughter and three sons.

The third son, Hamd, left an eyewitness account of his father's last days in prison and his public execution. He became involved in the black slave (Zanj) revolt centered around Basra, which